Orientation dependence of solid phase growth of implantation-induced amorphous layer in 6H–SiC

Abstract

The orientation dependence of solid phase growth of the implantation-induced amorphous layer on (0 0 0 1)- and (1 1 ̄ 0 0) -oriented 6H–SiC has been investigated at annealing temperatures below 1000°C using transmission electron microscopy. The surface region of the sample is amorphized by the 100 keV-Ar + implantation at a dose rate of 2×10 15 cm −2. The amorphous layer in the (1 1 ̄ 0 0) -oriented 6H–SiC is epitaxially regrown with a uniform regrowth rate (4.4 nm/min at 770°C). For the (0 0 0 1)-oriented 6H–SiC, the annealing of the amorphous layer leads to the regrowth of the micro-twinned 3C–SiC crystals with a regrowth rate of 0.019 nm/min at 770°C and an activation energy of 3.4 eV, followed by a faster regrowth of highly oriented 3C–SiC crystals. A change of the regrowth mechanism in the regrowth of the implantation-induced amorphous layer to 3C–SiC is suggested.